In this study, we use carefully constructed matched samples of litigated and non-litigated patents to investigate the characteristics that predict litigation. We define different control groups based on filing characteristics and value correlates (or both), and test the extent to which...

We follow the prosecution histories of the 2.15 million new patent applications filed at the US Patent and Trademark Office between 1996 and 2005 to calculate patent allowance rates. 55.8% of the applications emerged as patents without using continuation procedures to spawn related applications....

The purpose of this working paper is to investigate utility patent applications to the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) from inventors residing in China. It first focuses on the growth in the numbers of applications, putting this growth in context by comparing it to other important emerging...

Patent examination is a complex and information-intensive process. For researchers and policy analysts studying this process, it is important to have a basic understanding of how patents typically proceed through examination and how the behaviour and incentives facing examiners might influence...

Economists, legal scholars and policy makers are concerned about the impact of patent litigation on the rate and direction of US innovation and on the functioning of the US intellectual property system. At this time, however, there is no reliable, comprehensive, free and publicly accessible...

Recorded patent assignments have been maintained by the USPTO for over 40 years but have not been extensively utilized by scholars. One explanation is that they have not been in a form amenable for use in research. To help remedy this deficiency and foster research in the area of intellectual...

Recorded patent assignments have been maintained by the USPTO for over 40 years but have not been extensively utilized by scholars. One explanation is that they have not been in a form amenable for use in research. To help remedy this deficiency and foster research in the area of intellectual...